We love to joke about a “beer belly,” “love handles” or a “pancita,” but fat around our abdominal organs is dangerously linked to serious risks, including heart disease, cancer and dementia – and you don’t have to be overweight to be at risk. Any amount of belly fat will due.

In her latest book, Barbara Ehrenreich explores how we are killing ourselves to live longer, not better. Although we are programed to believe that we have some control over our bodies and our longevity, Ehrenreich argues otherwise. We must let go of the fantasy that order can be imposed on the chaos of our bodies, that yoga, meditation and shopping at Whole Foods can save us from cancer, disease and even dying.

Triclosan is a toxic chemical. In 2016, the FDA banned triclosan from soaps due to overwhelming evidence of its harmful effects on the human body. So why in the hell is it still in toothpastes, mouthwashes and countless other cosmetic products? The answer, once again, is money.

Hangovers do not get worse as we age. They only seem like they do. The fact is, as we enter our 30s and 40s we tend to drink less than we did in our 20s, and our tolerance is notably not what it used to be.

Sound too good to be true? Many of us work out so we can eat chocolate, but new research in The Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition found that dark chocolate can effortlessly enhance your workout. If only Lance Armstrong had known!

Have you seen this bumper sticker? If your end goal is happiness, new research proves it true. For those of us who work out, this is hardly groundbreaking news. Feeling happier after a workout is usually the reason we work out in the first place.

Remember science? As forward-thinking, health-minded individuals, we are often guilty of getting caught up in the hype trending on social media. Alkaline water, juice fasts, kombucha, the non-existent link between vaccines and autism, to name a few. In the age of Trumpism, let’s not forget about science.

Last week’s Boston Marathon results prove this statement true once again. In case you didn’t run this year or you missed the news coverage, the weather on Marathon Monday was horrendous – torrential rains, freezing temps and strong headwinds. And yet the women persevered toward the finish line, nearly eight times less likely to drop out.

Sigmund Freud and Aristotle knew this long ago, but a study conducted at UCLA and published last week shows that standing up is good for your brain. The research found that sitting and sedentary behavior correlates with a thicker medial temporal lobe, a region that is crucial to learning and memory. To sum up the research, the more time you spend on your ass, the less likely you are to learn and remember.

Are you a night owl who loves staying up late? It could be killing you. According to a new study of nearly half a million participates over a six-and-a-half-year period, people who stay up late increase their risk of dying by 10 percent.

I could easily write a long blogpost citing countless credible sources which themselves cite hard scientific studies to prove that vitamin supplements are not only a waste of money, but actually harmful and potentially deadly. I would summarize and cite numerous articles from The New York Times, The Atlantic, CNN, the BBC, The Guardian, Time Magazine and even Forbes, all of which would convince you to stop popping vitamin supplements immediately. But we all know you wouldn’t read a long article, so let me be brief.

Beer belly? Love handles? There’s a common assumption that drinking alcohol adds unnecessary pounds, and we’ve been told relentlessly that if we’re looking to lose weight, we need to lay off the booze. The problem is, this “universal truth” is not backed up by credible research. Scientific findings suggest no association between drinking and weight gain – in fact, there is some evidence that drinking is actually associated with a lower body weight, particularly in women.

Instead, eat a banana and drink water. A new study published last month proves that bananas provide comparable or even greater benefits for athletes. In the race against empty, hyped-up carbohydrates, real food wins again.

If you thought we finally settled the coffee debate, a California court just added more white noise to the black liquid and consumers are confused once again. Under Proposition 65, businesses selling coffee would be required to post cancer warning labels due to minuscule amounts of acrylamide, a chemical formed when coffee beans are roasted. Once again, science and policy are at odds.

Notable news for anyone who happens to be busy: A new study published this month in the Journal of the American Heart Association suggests that movement – any movement – increases longevity. This may not sound groundbreaking, but it is. What makes the findings revolutionary is that exercise does not have to be prolonged in order to be advantageous – the benefits are almost exactly the same.

It’s harsh but true: Americans keep getting fatter and there seems no end in sight. According to new government data published last week, nearly 40 percent of Americans are now obese…that is, fatter than fat. Nearly 8 percent of Americans are categorized as “severely obese,” meaning their body mass indexes are 40 percent over ideal weight. A BMI over 40 percent is categorized as “morbidly obese” with death on the not-so-distant horizon (choose your funeral options while you can).

The following statement is true: Sugar is the most addictive and widely used drug in the United States. Yet we willingly eat it and give it to our children multiple times a day hidden in packaged foods and overtly as deserts and treats. Happy birthday! Let’s celebrate by eating and drinking this drug together.

“Another plane, another train, another bottle in the brain.” Although the Beasties were never going to win a Pushcart Prize for Best American Poetry, many of us have lain awake countless nights with this rhyme in the mind. If you’re too young to know the Beastie Boys, I’m sure you’ve suffered insomnia with some sophomoric verse stuck in your head.